In a desperate bid to raise funds ahead of February general elections, politicians seeking or sponsoring candidates for elective posts have started selling their property in major cities of the country.
An investigative report carried out by Punch newspaper showed that the development has now crashed property market value as the politicians reduced the cost of their property by between 50 per cent and 100 per cent just to raise money for campaign.
A Port Harcourt-based estate practitioner, Nonye, confirmed the report saying “There are many politicians who are selling their property. While some of the property have already been sold, others are still waiting to be sold. The rush to sell the property started in August and increased in October, 2014. These property are owned by politicians. The property are mostly in Old GRA and New GRA in Port Harcourt.
“One of the governorship aspirants sold one of his property while a former governor has sold about three of his houses to support a politician that is currently seeking election.
“The politicians selling their property cut across the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress.
“One of the governorship aspirants also put up his eight plots of land for sale in the Old GRA and an aspirant from Andoni Local Government Area has offered to sell a duplex in the New GRA.”
On the value of the property on sale, Nonye explained that while a two-story building could go as high as between N250m and N300m in a high-brow area like New and Old GRA, the same property could go for between N20m and N50m in other areas.
Another estate agent, Bright Osakwe, said, “The politicians are selling their property now compared to what it used to be two years ago. We noticed an increase in the level of property that are put up for sales, though the politicians don’t show up until a buyer shows serious interest in buying such property. The property are mostly houses and you are aware that when you buy the building, the land follows it.
“Some of the buildings owned by politicians that have been put up for sale are around Ada George, Old GRA and Shell Industrial Area. Some buildings owned by these politicians are also located on D-Line. While some are put up for sale at N50m and N55m for one story building, others place the price of their property at N60m depending on the location, size and quality of the property. In fact, you can see property of N25m. It depends on the size and location.”
Speaking also on the development, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Woods and Bricks Limited, Mr. Andy Elerewe, cited an instance where a politician from one of the northern states placed one of his houses up for sale and dropped the price by over 100 per cent but still could not find a buyer.
He said, “Somebody has a property to sell in Maitama, Abuja. As at about a year ago, he was saying he would sell the property at N1.4bn, but last November, the man said he was ready to sell the same property for N600m. And we have not even seen people who will buy the property.
“The man is interested in contesting in the next general elections. I can confirm to you that the elections are really making politicians to drop prices of their property.”
Another real estate consultant in Abuja, Mr. Ade Adenigbo, while speaking on how politicians have been offering their property for sale to raise money for election, agreed that events in the property market had shown that apart from the economic crisis caused by slumping oil prices, more properties are increasingly becoming available in the market due to the coming elections.
Adenigbo said, “Usually, about six months to elections, more property are up for sale by politicians so as to raise funds for campaigns.
“I can confirm to you that there is a surge in the availability of property that are offered for sale in the market now and the location of such property suggests that some of them belong to the politicians.
“If you go to some major streets in Abuja now, you would see about 10 property for sale before you would see three for letting. So, in Abuja currently, it is more of sale than for letting because of the politicians’ desperate need for cash.
“In places such as Asokoro, Wuse II and Maitama where politicians and wealthy businessmen reside, it may not be wrong to say that some of the property put up for sale in those areas belong to politicians.
“Out of 100 property for sale in the highbrow areas, more than half may belong to politicians, and maybe the rest for private individuals, developers, businessmen, expatriates, and so on, and most of them are finding it difficult to get buyers because of the cash crunch.
“In fact, somebody gave me a duplex to sell in Abuja few months ago, and ordinarily, that property would have cost about N180m, but the person told me to accept N100m if any buyer offers such.
“Two weeks ago, he called to say I should accept N90m if there is any willing buyer because he ‘needs money for election.’”
Adenigbo explained that some private individuals capitalise on the situation to own property they would not have been able to afford.
He said, “Some people specifically keep their money for a time like this to get good houses at a cheaper price, especially from politicians who spend lavishly on houses and are ready to dispose them quickly.
“There is a house in Gwarinpa that was to be sold for N170m sometime ago, for about three months now, the owner is ready to dispose of it for N100m because he desperately needs money.”
Another estate consultant in Victoria Island, Lagos, Mr. Bunmi Ajayi, disclosed that even though he would not be able to disclose the owners of some of the property that have been newly introduced to the market for sale, a number of them are on distress sale because the owners “need the money for elections.”
He said some people who had previously offered their property for letting had now put them up for sale to make quick money or raise some for the election.
“If you go to areas like Banana Island in Ikoyi, Ikeja GRA, Lekki Phase 1, and so on, you will see a number of property for sale there. Some of them have been there for a long time while some are new, but these are highbrow areas where only the rich and politicians can afford to buy property and their prices are falling.
Oh well!
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